Yelmer Buurman rolled back the years with a maiden GP2 Series podium, achieved in similar conditions to those that helped him to his first Formula 3 victory two years ago.
Scoring a memorable British F3 victory in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps in 2006, Buurman's dominance in difficult conditions endowed him with the reputation as a master of slippery surfaces, a status that made its presence felt during the GP2 sprint race at Magny-Cours.
Taking the decision to start the race on slick tyres, despite the damp surface, Buurman kept his Arden car pointing in the right direction – unlike several others in the same situation – to find himself in the lead of the race at the half-way point when it became apparent his was a risk worth taking.
Pulling a comfortable lead over team-mate Sébastien Buemi, Buurman only began struggling in the closing stages with a set-up that leaned closer to that of a wetter circuit. With Buemi's car coming back to him, the Dutchman could do very little to prevent him to sweeping past eventually.
Nonetheless, Buurman, who has a podium to his name in the Asia Series, held on to complete Trust Team Arden's best-ever result in GP2, while second place also marks his first points of the season.
“This is my first one in the main series. It's really good: I didn't really expect it after qualifying, but it's a good feeling and hopefully we can do it a bit more often.
“Normally I always like the wet, and in British F3 I won twice in the wet, so I've always been quite good in the wet: when I saw that this morning I was really happy that I was going to drive in it!
“It was very difficult, very tricky with the slicks and a big powerful car, but I think we did pretty well. We went a little bit towards a wet set up, and in the wet we were a bit quicker than anyone else, but in the dry I think we struggled a bit.”
![Yelmer Buurman - Trust Team Arden [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/432041.jpg)
